3 Surprising Ways Your Body Benefits from Vitamin D

Everybody seems to know about vitamin C. For years, it has been considered the answer to many different health problems. Many other vitamins have become popular too, but the powerful vitamin D has been largely ignored! What you should know is that vitamin D is important for your well-being too. In fact, you'd be surprised how many different ways it can keep you in good health. Here's what Vitamin D helps you do:

Fight off disease

As a kid, you may have enjoyed being “sick” enough to miss school and stay home all day. But, other than that, no one enjoys getting sick. On top of having to miss work, you feel just plain horrible. Luckily, vitamin D helps your body fight infections and diseases, including:

• Colds and the flu
• Multiple sclerosis
• Inflammatory bowel disease

Vitamin D can also help with fatigue for those who are deficient. So, if you're feeling tired and sore all of the time, you may want to have your vitamin D levels checked!

Keep your bones strong

It's pretty common knowledge that calcium helps slow the rate of bone loss, but did you know that vitamin D helps with calcium absorption and helps prevent osteoporosis? So, next time you're taking a calcium supplement, grab some vitamin D too.

Avoid cardiovascular problems

According to the CDC, approximately 610,000 people in the United States die of heart disease every year... That's 25% of all total deaths, making it the leading cause of death in the country! You probably already know that factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol are among the main risk factors for heart disease, but did you know that a vitamin D deficiency can increase your risk as well? Once study performed by Dr. Joseph Mercola even showed that a vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of heart attack by 50%! Plus, vitamin D deficiency has been shown to increase the risk of congestive heart failure, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease. Those aren't problems that should be taken lightly! That's why it's so important to get your recommended dose of vitamin D every day to avoid heart disease (along with eating healthy and exercising, of course!).

What's the best way to get vitamin D?

Sure, you can get vitamin D from certain foods. But the best way to get it is by simply stepping out into the sunlight! For best results, head outside in the sun for less than 30 minutes between the hours of 10AM and 3PM. Just make sure you don't get too much sun – figure out the proper sun exposure time for your skin type, or you could get a nasty sunburn and increase your risk for skin cancer! If you'd rather get your vitamin D a different way, you can try these options:

• Yogurt
• Vitamin supplements
• Eggs
• Juice

And remember – if you're looking to keep your body healthy and stay fit, consider adding delicious Promax protein bars to your diet! For more information about Promax, check out our product page or our blog.

Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/vitamin-d-vital-role-in-your-health http://www.saragottfriedmd.com/the-benefits-of-vitamin-d-why-its-the-sexiest-vitamin-around/
http://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d#Sunlight4 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/22/dr-holick-vitamin-d-benefits.aspx
http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/two-keys-to-strong-bones-calcium-and-vitamin-d